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The latest case was brought before the ECJ by former French prisoner, Thierry Delvigne, who claimed that a ban on him voting violated his right enshrined in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which entitles citizens to take part in European elections wherever they live in the EU.

However, the court said it was "possible" for France to forbid the convicted murderer from voting in European Parliament elections as the country's ban is "proportionate" to the "nature and gravity of the criminal offence" and the length of Delvigne's sentence.

It had been feared that if the ECJ had ruled against a ban on prisoners' voting rights it could have triggered a surge of claims for compensation for serving and former British prisoners.

A Government spokesman said: "The European Court has confirmed French restrictions on prisoner voting are lawful.

"The UK's ban on prisoner voting stays in place and remains a matter for the UK Supreme Court and Parliament to determine."

Diane James MEP, UKIP's spokesman on justice and home affairs, said: "This ruling is a toe in the door for the ECJ to have say over domestic elections, and is setting a dangerous precedent European level interference into the democratic process.

"What we have seen with this ruling is it removes blanket bans on all crimes so therefore opens up the legislation to 'wriggle room'.

"This is due to the partial ban statues of this legislation. Prisoners’ rights should be something that lies solely with sovereign states.

"The lack of coherence and blanket ban will open up the British legal system to challenges from lawyers and prisoners.

"This will cost the UK taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds as they will have to ultimately foot the bill for legal aid.

"The ECJ ruling comes down to the fact we should not be answerable to a foreign court!"

In another huge victory for ministers today, a top EU legal adviser also backed the Government's 'right to reside' test for EU migrants before they can claim handouts such as child benefit.

The EU advocate general Cruz Villalon dismissed a European Commission challenge against the test by saying Britain had a right to protect its state finances.

The ECJ will now consider Mr Villalon's opinion before ruling on the Commission's objection to Britain's laws.

A Government spokesman said: "The UK welcomes this opinion, which supports our view that we are entitled to ensure only EU migrants who have a right to be in the UK can claim our benefits.

"However, this is just the advocate general's opinion, and we look forward to the ECJ's judgment in due course."

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The ECJ is the EU's top court

Anthea McIntyre MEP, Conservative spokesperson on employment in the European Parliament, added: "This is very welcome news for Britain's drive to combat benefits tourism.

"If adopted by the court it bodes very well for David Cameron's renegotiation programme."

However, UKIP's employment spokeswoman Jane Collins MEP said that while the ruling was "useful in the short term, nothing has changed when it comes to the British people deciding who can come to live and settle in the UK."

She added: "There's no point cheering too loud because one lawyer has ruled in our favour; we should not be relying on a foreign court to make these decisions for us.

"Uncontrolled migration has meant that in many sectors the minimum wage has become the maximum wage and big businesses have been relying on the tax payer to top up the salaries of their staff.

"None of this will change while we remain in the EU - no matter how many emotive speeches are made at Tory party conference in Manchester this week."